By Matt Schickling
Wire Staff Writer
On Jan. 27, during a meeting with families and advocates, Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed his support for the legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.
“I want to give doctors the ability to prescribe medicine as they see fit. It pains me that anybody, any citizen of Pennsylvania, is not getting the treatment he or she needs because of some legal impediment,” Wolf said.
The same day, legislation that would allow prescription of medical marijuana for select ailments was reintroduced in the state Senate.
The legislation is similar to Senate Bill 1182, introduced last September and passed with a 43–7 vote in the Senate. But the bill went stagnant in the House, despite some bipartisan approval.
State Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) and state Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery), the primary sponsors for the bill, pushed for the legalization under the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett, who threatened to veto the bill if it came across his desk.
Leach, who is known as one of the most liberal lawmakers in the state, stood alongside Folmer at the news conference where the bill was introduced. He posted a photo on Facebook of himself, Folmer and Wolf.
“Governor Corbett would only agree to stand next to a cardboard cutout of me,” he quipped.
Some advocates for medical marijuana believe that the previous bill is not as comprehensive as it should have been, but Leach suggested that the legislation will go through significant changes before it reaches Gov. Wolf’s desk.
